Dialog TV testing Discovery HD World & the Sirasa Saga
Reports pouring in suggest that Dialog TV is now testing "Discovery HD World". Initially it was reported that the channel was viewable for a short period of time but now the slot appears as scrambled. Discovery HD World is reportedly a high quality channel and its good if Dialog TV can include the channel in it's HD lineup. We got reports of drop in quality of Nat Geo HD once the Discovery HD World testing began. It should be stated that the channel should only be added if only the possibility exists and not at the loss of quality of another HD channel. In addition it shouldn't be time shared with any of the existing channels nor should it replace any existing channel. If there is not enough transponder space, the Dialog should immediately halt any attempts to add this channel. However if it can be added without causing any problems then it will be regarded as an excellent channel choice by Dialog TV.
Whether this Discovery HD World will be made available FOC to existing HD packages is yet to be seen but charging extra will be a very bad move on Dialog's part.
In addition we see a lot of comments being made regarding "Sirasa TV" on this blog. If Dialog is going to add this channel, then it would be at the cost of an existing channel. Adding a local channel such as Sirasa at the expense of any international channels be it English, Tamil or Hindi would be absurd. Channel replacements shouldn't take place so Dialog should hold off any introduction of this channel until transponder space is increased or the system is converted to MPEG4. In the event transponder space is increased then adding Sirasa TV would be a waste of transponder space. At the moment there are enough of local channels on Dialog TV and it wouldn't be wise to add more local FTA channels on the platform since these channels are freely available to anyone who has a regular antenna. However if Dialog TV wants to add "Sirasa TV" then they should do so only at the expense of an existing local channel on the platform.
Source : Dialog TV Blog
